Old Books Better Sold Than Dumped By Library

It might be a good idea for the brain trust of Pompano Beach, i.e., the city commissioners and administration, to put their heads together and come up with a solution to the problem of book dumping.

For those who might have missed the stories, a minor brouhaha surfaced in Pompano recently when the city librarian asked the Public Works Department to dispose of hundreds of books that, according to librarian Dorothy Field, were no longer wanted by the library.

The books, said Field, had been smoke-damaged in a fire at an annex to the main library.

``They were in poor condition and out of date. They were mildewed and unreadable,`` Field says. Also dumped were record albums and sheet music.

The books were dumped in and around a trash bin at Northeast 18th Avenue and Northeast Eighth Street.

Several Pompano Beach residents who spotted the discarded books and records said they had a field day at the trash site, gobbling up all sorts of goodies. Many of the books, they said, were like new.

One of the book rescuers, Mary Miller, said a hand-written inscription, ``Dick and Miriam Hood, Sea Monarch,`` was inscribed on the inside cover of The World`s Great Letters. (Hood was a former mayor of Pompano Beach who died last year.)

``This book is in perfect condition,`` Miller said. ``It contains, among others, three letters written by Abraham Lincoln between 1848 and 1864.

``Another treasure found among the trash is Anne Morrow Lindbergh`s book, Locked Rooms and Open Doors, which is a first edition. On the inside of the front and back covers is a handwritten letter to `Con` by AML. This is an original pen and ink letter -- not a copy or photograph as in The World`s Great Letters. `Con` is probably Anne Morrow Lindbergh`s sister, Constance.``

These hardly seem like books to be trashed.

Faced with complaints about ``book dumping,`` Field said she had no choice. Since the books were no longer needed or useful to the library, she had to get rid of them, and, she said, she could not legally give away city property.

Perhaps that is true. It would not make much sense to allow city department heads to give away city property. There`s too much chance for mischief.

But, the city should be able to sell its unneeded property, at the right price. Or, the city fathers could come up with special giveaway dispensation for cases such as this.

Surely there are other possibilities. It is far better to give things to residents at little or no cost than to summarily toss them into the dump.

The get-rid-of-it situation seems particularly sad when it comes to books. To many people, books are almost as precious as life itself. For those of us who grew up in small towns that had no libraries and who weren`t exactly loaded with spending money, a book . . . almost any book . . . was a treasure.

It was the pre-TV era, and it was from books that we learned, were entertained, escaped reality, and often inspired. There still are many such folks around.

If the library offered its surplus books to the public for a penny apiece, chances are there would be few volumes that would have to be carted off to a dump. And, it would be great public relations for the politicians. I`m sure they understand that. Perhaps city officials will ignore the situation, classifying it as unimportant compared to the terribly weighty issues they confront every day.

On the other hand, they might find it fun and rewarding to resolve this little itty-bitty puzzler.